On any other day the media in attendance would be congratulating GGG for this truly prestigious honor. As Ring Magazine Editor In Chief Doug Fisher noted, it had been several decades since they bestowed this honor on a Fighter. That was 1993 when Pernell Whitaker was given the P4P belt. As a proud Golovkin received his award names like Hagler, Hopkins and Monzon were mentioned. Putting the Golovkin name in the same sentence with any of those greats spoke volumes; GGG is truly in an elite class.

But as 360 Promotions Chief Tom Loeffler said, “This is a media lunch to recognize Gennady as the Ring Magazine middleweight champion. It just happens to be that last week we made the deal to fight Canelo Alvarez.”

A truer statement could not be uttered. The packed room was happy to see GGG get that belt but more than that they wanted to hear what Golovkin had to say about the consummated deal that will put him back in the ring with Canelo this coming September.

Loeffler threw out a quick jab at Team Canelo when he noted, “We are having clenbuterol-free, VADA-approved steaks for this press conference.” In fact, the fare that was served to the media was all clearly labeled including the Filet Mignon Medallions.

The animosity is building early for this battle and by fight week the tension will be thick enough to cut it with a knife, count on that.

Not to go unnoticed during the day was confirming a rumor I stumbled upon that suggested Canelo has made it clear he does not want to share the same space with GGG during any of the upcoming press events. When I asked Loeffler about this he stated, “They won’t be in the same room at the same time leading up to it. During fight week, who knows? If we do a press conference that week, or when you do the weigh-in, however we do it these guys… (Shrugs his shoulders). I don’t know if it’s animosity but Triple G feels that Canelo has a lack of respect for what happened and Canelo doesn’t seem happy about what has happened and it has taken on a completely different tone for this promotion.”

So when Golovkin noted during the press conference, “I don’t think he (Canelo) can look me into the eyes”, not only should we take that literally but it appears Canelo has made sure that won’t happen.

Considering what transpired before the May 5th fight and the Canelo tests that came up dirty, costing everyone a whole lot of money, I was curious if Team GGG has anything in place in the contract that would protect them financially in case Canelo should happen to accidentally woof down another plateful of Clenbuterol laced Burritos forcing another unexpected suspension and end to the September rematch. Loeffler answered, “We haven’t even gotten that far yet, but I am sure there will be something in place because like Abel said, we were ready for May 5 for Canelo and now we are hoping everything works out so we can get these guys in the ring on September 15th. It’s not unreasonable to put something like that in the contract, of course it would have to be for both sides, but the burden is clearly on Canelo to make sure he is clean and eligible to fight on September 15th.

Going back to the first fight and everything that was said in the aftermath fans seem split down the middle as to whether or not Canelo was fighting dirty that night. I asked Loeffler if in hindsight Team Golovkin thought maybe Canelo may have been under the effects of something illegal that night. “I think there are a lot of suspicions,” quipped Loeffler, “not only on our team but in general. But we had to go by what the Nevada Commission investigation came up with. This time he is doing a lot of testing just like Triple G will be doing throughout their entire training camps.’

Switching back to the reason we were there, and that was Golovkin getting that Pound For Pound belt Loeffler proudly said, “It’s a great honor and that is why we are here. It’s a great turnout from the media. This is one of the biggest honors you can get in the sport of boxing. There’s a lot of politics involved in boxing with all the titles and all the sanctioning bodies, to get the Pound For Pound title from Ring Magazine is a huge honor for Triple G.”

It seems like less than two weeks ago Golovkin was getting stripped of one of his hard earned titles and was playing second fiddle to Golden Boy and their “put up or shut up” demands. Suddenly here we are less than 14 days later and not only does Golovkin have a brand new shiny and prestigious belt to wrap around his waist but he got the split he was looking for in a fight that is sure to be the blockbuster event of the year.

I’m not sure if Golovkin has time to hit the tables when he is in Las Vegas but I wouldn’t be surprised if he is one heck of a Poker player. Not only will he stand firm on his hand and not fold, but he has the guts to call your bluff while doing so. If he beats Canelo in September we might have to start calling him Gennady “Royal Flush” Golovkin.

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